some thoughts on food i wrote a while ago

I have such a complex relationship with food, as I'm sure many others do as well. It's strange and yet completely logical that something which is such a basic need for survival should be a large part of my life. Growing up and even now, so much of my life is centered around food. Family gatherings are based around a meal, be it a summer BBQ, a holiday dinner or even cake and ice cream for a birthday. Food brings us together and can tear us apart. For instance, that same birthday cake which brought all our loved ones together to share joy and celebrate, probably left most of us feeling guilty for indulging in a sweet treat when we should be trying to cut back and lose weight.

There are many options for weight loss and fat loss. A myriad of diets and quick-fix claims confront us everyday on TV, in magazines and on the internet. Even for those of us who are successful in losing some weight, it is a constant battle to keep the weight off. We can blame genetics, lack of motivation, stress, not enough free time and many other things. It confuses me how something so great as food can be all at once one of my greatest loves and one of my biggest enemies.

There's no perfect answer for anyone. I've been trying to make myself more educated about where my food comes from and on different theories of how we can lose or gain muscle and fat. It isn't going to solve my issues with food, nor quench my love of it, but information is power. The more knowledge I gain, the more informed of a decision I can make with respect to what food I do or do not eat on a daily basis. Eating is something most of us just take for granted. I'm lucky enough to live in a society where I can make educated choices about my food intake and have the options available to me to purchase that food. I feel like I owe it to myself and to others to take advantage of the tools and opportunities available to me to make the best choice possible. I don't have my perfect answer yet, but I'm still reading and learning and I encourage each and everyone of you to do the same.

I haven't forgotten I have a blog: Chicken Meatza Recipe

I realize that I haven't posted here in a while. I'm trying to make a come back. So I'm starting small and going to try to just build up a habit of posting some recipes I encounter that I end up enjoying. Unfortunately this is a new habit, so by the time I thought that it might be a good idea to take a pic of this meal, this is all that was left:

Figure 1: Empty plate, the meatza was that good. 

The beige sauce in the small bowl of Figure 1 contained "Sunshine Sauce" which was originally posted on the blog of Melissa Joulwan (The Clothes Make the Girl) and also can be found in her awesome cookbook (Well Fed) with many other delicious recipes I've personally consumed. The only substitutions I made to the recipe were that I did include the optional dash of cayenne pepper, I could only find liquid aminos from Whole Foods, not coconut aminos, and I used "natural" Sunbutter that I found at Target and didn't bother looking for the "organic" one that has no added sugar.

The empty space on my plate in Figure 1 was once occupied by the CPK-style Thai chicken meatza. I had found this recipe on the blog called Stuff I Make My Husband. Now, I know Rob isn't my husband yet, which shall be remedied this weekend, but I still make him stuff from time to time and I did SHARE this meatza with him. It should also be noted that both Stuff I Make My Husband and The Clothes Make the Girl are Paleo-diet-friendly websites and usually boast Whole 30-approved recipes. Now, back to the chicken meatza. Some small changes I ended up making to the recipe were as follows: I didn't have any bean sprouts and couldn't find any at Target on my grocery trip, so I omitted that ingredient and just added some extra shredded carrot. I believe the cake pan I used was only a 9" pan, unlike the 10" pan the recipe author used. Finally, since we like things spicy in our apartment, I took the liberty of adding a chopped up jalapeno (seeds included) in with the cilantro and chopped cashews sprinkled on as a finishing touch. 

I must also mention, the Sunshine Sauce is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo delicious. Amazingly I had some left over from the dinner and decided to use it as a salad dressing for my lunch today (Figure 2). I just mixed up some greens fresh from my CSA (butter lettuce, mustard greens and arugula). Then chopped up and tossed in some celery, carrots and scallions that I had in my fridge (the scallions and carrots were left over from the meatza last night). Then I threw in some breakfast radishes, also from my CSA. Finally, I drizzled on the left over Sunshine Sauce and tossed in 2 over-easy fried eggs for some protein.

Figure 2: Lunch time salad. Red arrow indicates breakfast radish, white arrow indicates carrot drenched in Sunshine Sauce, black arrow indicates over-easy fried eggs. 

That's all that I have to share for today. I don't think I'll be doing much cooking over the next few days as I'm off to get married this weekend. I'll try to whip up something tasty to share next week though. Thanks for stopping by!

Restaurant Review: Burgatory Bar

Rob and I have been trying to explore new (or new to us) restaurants in the Pittsburgh area. On this past Saturday, July 17th, Burgatory Bar was graced with our presence. To start off with, the restaurant is located in the Aspinwall neighborhood of Pittsburgh at the Waterworks Mall. This meant that there was a short drive (only about 10-15 min), but also ample parking, that was FREE. This was a big positive in my book as it can be quite difficult to find parking in Pittsburgh and often it is at meters, but I digress.

Since I was not my usual over-prepared self, we did not have reservations and had an hour wait. To be fair it was about 6:30PM on a Saturday night, so I wasn't surprised. I was however, pleasantly surprised by the waiting system they had set up. Their scheduling book was on an iPad and sent me texts to let me know my estimated wait, when my table was ready, and then post-meal a thank you text for visiting the restaurant. During our wait we decided to take a stroll around the mall, which is an outdoor strip mall. We used up about 20 min or so reading magazines in the neighboring Barnes & Noble and then perused the Wine & Spirits for any tempting buys (I did end up buying a few more bottle of my new favorite Alentejo).

Once we tired of walking about we returned to Burgatory and found a seat at their bar for the remainder of our wait. As a side note, Burgatory and it's bar are not very large. It is a smaller sized restaurant, but has a great atmosphere. At the bar, Rob was pleased to find several of his favorite hoppy beers on tap, such as Green Flash IPA and Victory Hop Wallop. I decided to start with a Strawberry Shag which was a divine vodka-based cocktail that had fresh strawberry and basil in it. The description warns that they go down too easy and boy was it right. I had finished it without even realizing it, so decided to switch to a shake for dinner.

Once we were seated we perused the menu. Although there were many delicious burgers on the menu, we could resist taking advantage of the custom burger option (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Burgatory Custom Order Menu. Rob Hall, 2011.

While we ticked off boxes for our favorite toppings and such, we ordered some onion rings to start and I ordered my shake (Figure 2). I went for the shake of the day which was a "Puppy Chow" shake, and of course I chose the option to have it spiked with some chocolate liqueur. For those of you not familiar with puppy chow, it is typically a mixture of Chex cereal, chocolate chips and peanut butter all melted together. Let me say here, this shake was AMAZING!

Figure 2: The AMAZING Puppy Chow milkshake.

Now for the main event. Rob ordered a custom bison burger with smoked gouda, applewood smoke bacon, a fried egg, BBQ sauce and jalapenos on a wheat bun (Figure 3). Pretty much a heart-attack on the plate, but he does a lot of running, so I think his heart can handle it for now. As for myself, I chose a crab cake burger with horseradish cheddar, poblano pepper and avocado wasabi on a wheat bun (Figure 4). My burger sounds a bit more tame, but as you can see from the picture, it was not in any way tiny or what I would call healthy. The avocado wasabi wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but the crab cake was gorgeous.

Figure 3: Rob's custom burger with fries.

Figure 4: Cas's custom order with chips.

Overall, I would rate this restaurant as GREAT! This one is definitely being added into our regular restaurant rotation. But be advised, bring a big appetite because you're going to want to eat everything and a lot of it!

For more information on Burgatory Bar:
website: http://burgatorybar.com/
FB page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Burgatory-Bar/
Phone: (412) 781-1456
Address: 932 Freeport Rd, Waterworks Mall, Pittsburgh PA 15238

Ruckus Pittsburgh 2011

A few months ago I heard about this event called Ruckus. It was advertised as an "adult playground" and an obstacle course for all fitness levels. I was hooked. So I registered early and only had to pay $65 (+handling fees on active.com). Yea, the price was a bit steep, and it only got worse as you delayed. These were the fees:

Loyalty Registration        $60 - 3/9-3/25

Early Registration           $65 - 3/26-5/6
Standard Registration     $75 - 5/7-6/10
Late Registration            $85 - 6/11-7/13
Walk Up Registration      $100 - 7/16 - if available

On top of the somewhat high registration price, parking at the event was $10. Now I understand that there probably needs to be extra emergency services on site, but I was really beginning to feel like I was being nickel and dimed here.

Then the kicker came at the end of the race. It was advertised on the website and in my final instructions e-mail that all participants over 21 would receive a wrist band for their complimentary beer post-race. Well I thought it was odd when I picked up my packet that no wrist band was inside. I then realized after the race that beers were not complimentary and were in fact $4 each. I probably wouldn't have been that upset, but why tell me I'd get free beer if you are going to charge? Needless to say, I skipped the beer.

You may be thinking that I'm giving this race a negative review, but it's really more of a neutral review. Since this was the first time that the Ruckus coordinators have tried to have this event in Pittsburgh, I'm willing to cut them some slack. Also, several people did injure themselves on the course. I saw a guy who had broken his tibia on one of the obstacles while I was out on the course. While this event wasn't perfect and there are definitely kinks to work out (some of the obstacles were falling apart as the day wore on and were removed from the course), I did have a lot of fun during it.

The obstacles themselves consisted of mud pits, mounds and valleys of dirt to scale, inclines, monkey bars (over a mud pit), walls to conquer, tunnels to climb through, did I mention mud? You can see in Figure 1 that Rob and I had a lot of fun and did get quite muddy. Although the website said the race would be 4 miles, it seemed like it was only about 2.5 miles. On the other hand, the event really was for all fitness levels and if someone couldn't make it through an obstacle, they could walk through. The whole event was really about having fun and getting out there and playing in the mud.

Figure 1: Post-race covered in mud (Rob got hit a bit worse than me).

To top it off, there was some gear for finishers; a medal (Figure 2) and a t-shirt (Figure 3). As an added bonus, Rob made it to the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sunday paper (Figure 4). Overall I'd say it was a successful event, and I hope that it returns next year.

Figure 2: Finisher's medal.

Figure 3: Finishers' T-shirt. Front sporting events, back sporting sponsors.

Figure 4: Rob made it to the front page of the Pittsburgh Sunday paper.

For more information on Ruckus see their website: Run Ruckus

Wine Review: Sogrape Callabriga Alentejo

The Wine: Callabriga Alentejo
From the back label
Winery: Herdade do Peso
Maturation: Oak barrels 12 mo and bottle 6 mo
Tasting Notes: Red-violet colour. Intesnse ripe red fruit aroma. Full-bodied and smooth, displays excellent balance and elegance. Ages well for 2-3 year.
Food Pairing: Meat and soft cheeses.
14.5 % alc/vol.
Bottled by Sogrape Vinhos
Imported by Evanton, Inc. Stamford, CT.

Figure 1: Bottle opened and served in vintage cocktail glass.

I found this wine in the Chairman's Selection at PA Wine & Spirits, where I often peruse the discount bottles. It is my new favorite wine. It is a nice dry red with a full body. Unfortunately, it is a last-call wine, which means what you see is what you get. No more restocks. Of course I had to go out and buy 14 bottles of it and clean out what was left of their stock. Sorry folks, this wine is great, but I don't think you'll be able to find it. If you're nice, maybe I'll share a glass with you ;)

Farmers' Market Haul

In my continuing quest to become more educated about the food I consume, I became interested in buying more fresh produce locally. I began looking for farmers' markets and discovered the website for Slow Food Pittsburgh. They offer a completely organic farmers' market every Saturday from 9AM-1PM known as the Farmers@Firehouse due to its location at The Firehouse Lounge in the Strip.

The weekend is a more flexible time for me to get my shopping done, since I work long hours during the week and can't make it to most farmers' markets as they seem to be during the afternoon on weekdays. In addition to the convenient time, I was also attracted to the fact that this farmers' market offered only organic produce.

Enough chit-chat, let's get to the goods. Here was my haul (Figure 1) for this week:  hens' eggs, proscuitto and Crested Duck black hawaiian sea salt from The Farmer's Wife; kale, swiss chard and zucchini from Mott Family Farm; hydroponic tomatoes from Pucker Brush Farm out of Shelocta, PA; quails' eggs from Blackberry Meadows; and spring onions, broccoli and peas from Blue Goose Farm.

Figure 1: Organic produce from Farmers@Firehouse on July 9, 2011.

I was so taken with the fresh eggs that I had to share a photo of them as well (Figure 2). There were jumbo eggs or unclassified for sale. I went for the unclassified and I'm glad I did. I was so happy when I opened the box and saw an array of differently colored eggs of varying sizes. Also, when I cracked a couple to make scrambled eggs, the yolks were a rich orange-yellow color and so delicious.

Figure 2: Fresh eggs from The Farmer's Wife. The inserted label states that these eggs are from hens that spend their days foraging on fresh grass :) I particularly love the pale blue eggs!

Finally, since I was already in the Strip for the farmers' market, I stopped off at Wholey's Fish Market to pick up some sustainable fish options. I found some fillets of wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon and whole dressed rainbow trout. I learned my lesson from past experience and had the fishmonger chop the heads off the trout for me this time. All in all, a successful trip and I can't wait to start cooking!

Just a little Independence Day fun

The date: Monday, July 4, 2011. Charging out on to the field, I can hear the crowd in Gillette Stadium is cheering. My image appears on the giant screen, I'm running towards the end zone . . . and through the finish line of the Harvard Pilgrim Independence Day 10K.

Yes folks, I got up early on a holiday, drove an hour from my soft inviting bed just to run 6.2 miles around the Patriots' stadium. It was worth it.

Figure 1: Serious pre-race photo.

As friends and family looked on, I got to run into the stadium through a giant inflated Patriots helmet and down the field across the finish line as cameras projected our images onto the jumbo trons. Sure the stadium wasn't packed, but 3000 other participants and their friends and family were there to cheer me on at the end.

The pre-race swag wasn't too bad either. Patriots Place hosted an expo the Saturday and Sunday prior to race-day where booths were set up giving away free samples of items such as 5 Hour Energy bottles, Stoneyfield Farms yogurts and smoothies and other products. There were also raffles to enter for larger prizes, but I didn't bother to enter any. The Patriots mascot and some cheerleaders were around for photos and autographs. Also, you received a t-shirt with your registration (Figure 2).

Figure 2: T-shirt received with race registration.

The actual day of the race was a bit warm for me. The actual temperature was probably in the 80s, but large stretches of the race were left without shade that caused me to overheat quickly. Thank goodness for the volunteers. There were plenty of volunteers dispersed through out the course to make sure all roads were blocked and cars couldn't access the course. Also, there were water stations set up every mile. I would've appreciated some Gatorade or other sports drink about halfway through, but I can't complain about the frequency of water stops which was above and beyond what I've seen in past 10K's. The course itself wasn't too demanding, mostly flat with some small rolling hills. 

 My goal for the race was 1:15 and amazingly I hit it square on the nose (Figure 3). Actual results are listed here if you don't believe me.

Figure 3: Net time 1:15:00

In addition to the fun of finishing the race by running across the Patriots field, a slew of free goodies were available to the runners and some to spectators as well. There were chips from Cape Cod and Pop Chips, as well as snack bars from Balance Bar, Larabar and Cascadian Farms, and of course bananas.

Overall it was a great race and I will probably do it again next year. For $40, how much more can you really ask for?

Figure 4: See we were having fun! ;)

For more information see the Harvard Pilgrim Race website: http://www.harvardpilgrim10k.com